Tunis, May 28 (IANS/AKI) Authorities in Tunisia on Thursday arrested a Moroccan suspect in the March 18 attack on the capital’s Bardo museum which killed 22 people, mainly tourists, a government spokesman announced.
Tunisian security forces arrested Noureddine Naibi in the coastal town of Ras Jedir, near the Libyan border, interior ministry spokesman Mohammed Ali Aroui said.
Naibi was one of five suspects sought by Tunisia over the Bardot museum attack, the other four, who are Tunisians, are still at large, Aroui said.
Tunisian authorities last week requested the extradition of a second Moroccan suspect in the Bardo attack, Abdelmajid Touil, who was arrested in northern Italy on May 19.
The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group previously claimed responsibility for the gun assault, which left 21 foreign tourists, a Tunisian policeman and two Tunisian gunmen dead. Over 50 people were injured in the attack.
A third gunman was on the run and several people had been arrested, Tunisia’s President Beji Caid Essebsi said a few days after the attack.
At the end of March, Tunisia claimed to have killed the alleged leader of the assault, Algerian militant Lokman Abu Sakhra.
Tunisian authorities say they believe a 23-member cell with overlapping allegiances to several jihadi groups is believed to be behind the attack.
–IANS/AKI
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